This is a survey study. It identified an association. Association does not prove causation. Wearing snow pants is associated with wearing mittens; this does not mean that the mittens cause the snow pants.

The study reports relative risk rather than absolute risk.

The lead researcher has a massive conflict of interest: he’s the founder of a plant-based meal replacement product.

The imprecision of dietary recall surveys. Everybody lies on dietary recall surveys – and not intentionally; most of us just struggle to remember precisely what we ate and in what amounts at every meal in the past 24 hours. So how do we know this study was actually an accurate measure of anything? We don’t.

The plot twist at the end of the study: in people over 65, protein was actually associated with a lower risk of death.

The upshot: this is a very interesting piece of preliminary survey research which may or may not point to any kind of causal association. It doesn’t demonstrate causation as it stands. And it doesn’t present any serious reason to change your diet, start restricting protein, or stop eating meat.

With that out of the way, take a look at what else was going on this week: